The Northop conveyancing firm handling our Northop conveyancing has spotted a difference when comparing the assumptions in the home valuation survey and what is revealed within the legal papers for the property. My lawyer has advised that he needs to ensure that the lender is OK with this discrepancy and is content to go ahead. Is my solicitor’s course or action right?

Your conveyancing practitioner must comply with the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook requirements which do require that your lawyer disclose any incorrect assumptions in the lender’s valuation report and the legal papers. Should you refuse to allow your lawyer to make the appropriate notification then your lawyer will have no choice but to discontinue acting for you.

I am helping my step-mother sell her property in Northop. Will the conveyancing solicitor order the energy performance certificate or it is for the seller to see to?

After the demise of Home Information Packs, EPC’s was left as a compulsory part of moving house. An EPC needs to be commissioned in advance of the property being placed on the market. It is not something that law firms ordinarily organise. If you are instructing a Northop conveyancing solicitor they may be able to arrange energy assessments given their relationships with long established local assessors

Having read lots of mortgage guides, I note that they all recommend that you should get your house surveyed prior to buying it. When I asked my local Northop solicitor - who is on the TSB conveyancing panel - on this she said they don't do this and I need to contract an independent surveyor. is that correct?

TSB will need an independent valuation of the property. Your lawyer will not arrange this. Usually TSB will appoint their own surveyor to do this, and you will have to pay for it. Remember that this is a valuation for mortgage purposes and not a survey. Your property lawyer will not organise the survey but they may be able to put you in touch with a local one that they recommend. RICS offers a find a surveyor service (just google it) where you can search for a qualified surveyor by your Northop postcode. As you are getting a mortgage with TSB, you could contact them to see if they have a list of approved surveyors in Northop.

My offer on a semi in Northop has been agreed to, but there is a chain. The owners have offered on on an apartment, but it’s not yet agreed to, and have viewings of other properties booked. I have selected a local conveyancing solicitor in Northop. What do I do now? At what stage should I apply for the mortgage with Co-operative?

It is normal to have apprehensions where there is a chain as you are unlikely to want to be too out of pocket too early (mortgage application is approx one thousand pounds, then valuation, Northop conveyancing search costs, etc). The first thing to do is ensure that your conveyancing practitioner is on the Co-operative approved list. Concerning the next steps this very much depends on the uniqueness of your case, desire for this property and on the state of the market. In a rising market many purchasers would apply for a home loan with Co-operative and arrange for the valuation and only if it comes back ok would they ask their conveyancer to move forward with searches.

Should our conveyancer be making enquiries regarding flooding during the conveyancing in Northop.

The risk of flooding is if increasing concern for solicitors dealing with homes in Northop. There are those who purchase a house in Northop, completely aware that at some time, it may be flooded. However, leaving to one side the physical damage, where a house is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to get a mortgage, suitable insurance cover, or dispose of the premises. There are steps that can be taken as part of the conveyancing process to forewarn the buyer.

Conveyancers are not best placed to impart advice on flood risk, however there are a various searches that may be carried out by the buyer or by their conveyancers which should figure out the risks in Northop. The standard completed inquiry forms sent to a buyer’s lawyer (where the solicitors are adopting what is known as the Conveyancing Protocol) includes a standard inquiry of the vendor to determine whether the property has suffered from flooding. If flooding has previously occurred and is not revealed by the vendor, then a purchaser may bring a legal claim for losses as a result of such an incorrect response. A purchaser’s lawyers will also conduct an environmental report. This will higlight whether there is a recorded flood risk. If so, further inquiries should be made.

I am looking for a leasehold apartment up to £235,500 and found one close by in Northop I like with open areas and transport links in the vicinity, the downside is that it only has 49 years unexpired on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Northop in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error purchasing a short lease?

Should you need a mortgage the shortness of the lease will be problematic. Discount the offer by the expected lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the current owner has owned the property for a minimum of 2 years you may ask them to start the process of the extension and pass it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the current lease term and have £0 ground rent by law. You should speak to your conveyancing lawyer regarding this matter.

I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Northop. Before I get started I require certainty as to the number of years remaining on the lease.

If the lease is registered - and almost all are in Northop - then the leasehold title will always include the short particulars of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title. For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.

I inherited a studio flat in Northop, conveyancing formalities finalised March 2004. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Corresponding flats in Northop with an extended lease are worth £179,000. The ground rent is £65 per annum. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2076

You have 57 years left to run we estimate the premium for your lease extension to range between £26,600 and £30,800 plus costs.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to provide a more accurate figure in the absence of detailed investigations. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt additional issues that need to be considered and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action based on this information before getting professional advice.